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Scarlett Johansson faces casting backlash, this time for playing a transgender man

In a controversial decision, Scarlett Johansson has been cast in "Rub & Tug," the true story of Dante "Tex" Gill, a transgender massage parlor owner. She faced a similar flap for last year's "Ghost in the Shell," which cast her as a Japanese manga character.

Scarlett Johansson faces casting backlash, this time for playing a transgender man

Scarlett Johansson has responded to a controversy brewing around the Avengers star’s latest movie role.
Time

Scarlett Johansson faced controversy last year after starring in "Ghost in a Shell" as the Japanese character Major Motoko Kusanagi, the lead in a film based on an anime series of the same name.(Photo: Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images)

Scarlett Johansson is again at the center of a casting controversy, this time for accepting a role to play a transgender man.

She's joining director Rupert Sanders to star in "Rub & Tug," a film based on the true story of transgender massage parlor owner Dante "Tex" Gill, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety have reported. Sanders previously directed Johansson in 2017's "Ghost in a Shell," another controversial role, in which she starred as the Japanese manga character Major Motoko Kusanagi.

Johansson released a statement to Bustle via an unnamed representative: "Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman's reps for comment."

For reference, those three cisgender actors played transgender characters in "Transparent," "Dallas Buyers Club" and "Transamerica," respectively.

USA TODAY has reached out to Johansson's and Sanders' representatives for comment.

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Concerns about whitewashing in the film industry aren't going away with the sci-fi action film 'Ghost in the Shell.'
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Many on Twitter responded angrily, both to the initial casting and the statement to Bustle. The overwhelming consensus: Transgender characters should be played by transgender actors.

"So you can continue to play us but we can’t play y’all? Hollywood is so [expletive]," tweeted "Transparent" actress Trace Lysette." "I wouldn’t be as upset if I was getting in the same rooms as Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett for cis roles, but we know that’s not the case."

She continued: "And not only do you play us and steal our narrative and our opportunity but you pat yourselves on the back with trophies and accolades for mimicking what we have lived... so twisted. I'm so done."

Lysette's "Transparent" co-star, Alexandra Grey, proposed a round-table discussion with "The Hollywood Reporter": "We need to reach all those execs, studios, show runners, and networks who will see it and who will have the power to make some moves and really help shift the industry in a more inclusive & diverse direction," she wrote.

We should totally do a roundtable discussion with @THRWe need to reach all those execs, studios, show runners, and networks who will see it and who have the power to make some moves and really help shift the industry in a more inclusive & diverse direction. Let's do it! #THR

"Flippantly dismissing concerns over this new role really says a lot about her views regarding trans people," wrote Charlotte Clymer, a communications staffer for the Human Rights Campaign.

Yeah, I'm gonna avoid Scarlett Johansson movies moving forward after her response. Even if this topic were complex (and it's not: trans people should play trans people), flippantly dismissing concerns over this new role really says a lot about her views regarding trans people.

Jamie Clayton ("Sense8") reminded what it's like being a transgender actress in Hollywood: "Actors who are trans never even get to audition FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN ROLES OF TRANS CHARACTERS," she wrote.

Scarlett Johansson has proven time again that she is not much of an ally when it gets in the way of her personal advancement. I hope this new movie will be rewarded in the same way as GitS - mediocre reviews and a box office failure.

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Scarlett Johansson's hair may have changed throughout the years, but her sense of style hasn't. Here, she attends the world premiere of "Avengers: Endgame" at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 22, 2019. Amy Sussman, Getty Images

The name of the film may have been "Rough Night," but one of its stars looked anything but rough wearing Michael Kors Collection at the world premiere of the film in New York on June 12, 2017. PETER FOLEY, EPA

The actress paired a sleeveless top with wide stripes by Sonia Rykiel with high-waisted trousers by Roland Mouret for a photocall during the Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 3, 2013. Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images